Estudis DEBT FOR WATER. The External Debt Reduction Initiatives Trap And Water Privatization Processes In Sub-Saharan Africa

Transcription

1 6ESFeres Estudis DEBT FOR WATER The External Debt Reduction Initiatives Trap And Water Privatization Processes In Sub-Saharan Africa

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3 ESFeres Estudis 6 DEBT FOR WATER The External Debt Reduction Initiatives Trap And Water Privatization Processes In Sub-Saharan Africa Author: Irene González Pijuan, member of the Catalan Association of Engineers Without Borders Catalunya. Coauthor: Iolanda Fresnillo Sallan, ODG researcher Maps: Pau Miró, Polytechnic University of Valencia and ODG I would like to thank to the people of the Debt Observatory for the chance to do this study, both for their company and for all I have learned during this time. To all who are part of the Catalan Association of Engineers Without Borders Catalunya for the time spent together during the writing, and specially to Eloi and Alfons because without their contribution and help the result would have been very different... Irene González Pijuan The debt crisis is not only a financial problem for the southern countries. It is also a problem based on unequal power relationships that at the same time strengthen it: the debt is still used as a control tool through conditions linked to the loans and relief initiatives. It is a pressure tool used by creditor countries, interests and northern institutions to promote the entry of their international corporations, execute their external policies, their military and invading strategies; get favorable trading agreements; and promote the resource extraction of the indebted countries. Debt Declaration. World Social Forum, Nairobi, Kenya, 24th January

4 First edition: July 2009 Publisher: Catalan Association of Engineers Without Borders c/ Pelai 52, 2n 2a Barcelona Spain With the support of: Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) Council of Barcelona Council of Lleida City hall of Lleida Graphic Design and DTP: Dani López Cover and interior pictures: Ana Guasch and Lluís Basteiro Print: Impremta Badia S.L Legal Deposit: B ISBN: The ideas published should not be considered as the official opinion of the collaborating institutions. The Authors and Catalan Association of Engineers Without Borders

5 ESFeres Estudis 6 INDEX Acronyms Introduction Debt and water in Sub-Saharan Africa: An overview External debt and cancellation policies: The HIPC initiative External debt cancellation policies Commoditization and water access The HIPC initiative influence in water access in Sub-Saharan Africa Study cases: Tanzania, Mali and Malawi The water privatization process in Malawi Tanzania: A failed privatization process Evolution of water management in Dar es Salaam The privatization of Energie du Mali Conclusions

6 Debt For Water Acronyms l ADF: African Development Bank l ODA: Official Development Assistance l AWN: African Water Network l EIB: European Investment Bank l IDB: Inter-American Development Bank l WB: World Bank l CAS: Country Assistance Strategy l CDE: Camérounaise Des Eaux l ICSID: International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes l ICAM: International Council of African Managers l CMDT: Compagnie Malienne de Dévelopment Textile l MNC: Multinational Corporation l DAWASA: Dar es Salaam Water and Sanitation Agency l EDM: Energie du Mali l TNC: Transnational corporation l FAD: Fondo de Ayuda al Desarrollo (Development Assistance Fund) l IMF: International Monetary Fund l GTZ: Gesellschaft fur Tchnische Zusamenarbeit l GWCL: Ghana Water Company Limited l GWOP: Global Water Operators Partnership l HIPC: Heavily Indebted Poor Countries l IDA: International Development Agency l IFI: International Financial Institution l MDRI: Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative l NWSC: National Water Sanitation Company (Uganda) l MDG: Millennium Development Goals l WHO: World Health Organization l ONEP: Office Nationale d'eau Potable l UN: United Nations l SAP: Structural Adjustment Program l GDP: Gross Domestic Product l HIPC: Heavily Indebted Poor Countries l PPIAF: Public-Private Investment Advisory Facility l PPP: Public-Private Partnership l PRGF: Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility l PRSP: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper l PSP: Private Sector Participation l PUP: Public Utility Partnership l RPW: Reclaiming Public Water l SDE: Sénégalaise des Eaux l SEEG: Société d Eau et Electrictié du Guinea l SNE: Société Nationale des Eaux (Niger) l SNEC: Société Nationale des Eaux du Cameroun l STEE: Société Tchadiénne d Eau et Electricité l TDS: Total Service Debt l WETUM: Water Employees Trade Union of Malawi 4

7 ESFeres Estudis 6 Introduction The obligation to face up to the external debt repayments is a huge problem for impoverished countries that strongly limits their own development. The limited financial resources in many southern countries are being used more to pay off external debt than to satisfy the basic needs of their own populations. This debt has continued to grow since the 1970s because of the irresponsible policies the policymakers of the southern countries have applied and also because of the reckless lending policies that international creditors, banks, governments of the northern countries and International Financial Institutions have imposed. The conditions of the loans granted, the neoliberal economic policies linked to these loans that southern countries have had to apply, the infrastructures, the armies and institutional reforms financed with the loaned money have led the population of these countries into a worse situation than before and have undermined southern countries sovereignty rather than acting as a development tool. In addition, the citizens of these indebted countries have no access to drinking water and sanitation. This is a violation of human rights, an obstacle to their development, and a threat to the survival of the population in general. The commoditization of water, which has been expanding in recent decades due to the influence of International Financial Institutions, is not improving the access to water situation, but has created conflicts in the access management of this common necessity. External debt and access to water are just two of the many problems impoverished countries have to face. On the surface they seem to be two separate problems with different origins and consequences, and should therefore be treated with specific policies and strategies geared for each one. However, they are in fact deeply linked. The obligation to pay external debt limits the resources available to guarantee basic services such as the construction of infrastructures and the management of water. And added to this handicap is the burden imposed by the International Financial Institutions to privatize and commodify basic water services. These institutions, especially the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have used the external debt mechanism, both in its generation and in the debt reduction policies, to impose this model of water commoditization. Thus, the debt cancellation promises made through programs such as the HIPC and MDRI, have been used to impose private-sector models of water management as basic conditions. The contribution of new funds for southern countries, usually through loans, by institutions such as the World Bank have also been traditionally linked to the condition of privatizing access to water. These models have clearly proved ineffective both in guaranteeing the right of access to water and ensuring that the needed investment in infrastructures is made. This research has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Associació Catalana d Enginyeria Sense Fronteres (Engineering Without Boarders Catalonia) and the Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (Observatory of Debt in Globalization). It analyzes the relationship between debt cancellation initiatives and the commoditization of water processes in the Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the regions most affected by both the external debt mechanism and the lack of access to drinking water and sanitation. If we have a look at the study cases of Malawi, Tanzania and Mali, or other even examples such as Cameroon and South Africa, we will see the debt mechanism regarding granting new loans and cancellation promises perversely used to impose a model that only benefits multinational service companies 5

8 Debt For Water many of them European. African countries in great need of financial resources and pressed to repay external debt fall into the trap of debt reduction initiatives, which bring with them the privatization of the water management (usually hidden beneath promises of efficient management of the resources). The population of these countries, without drinking water or sanitation, among other basic services, is crying out for an integral public model of water management. 6

9 ESFeres Estudis 6 1. Debt and water in Sub-Saharan Africa: An overview 1.1External debt and cancellation policies: The HIPC initiative Money that southern countries owe to foreign organizations such as private banks is known as private debt, money owed to governments of rich countries is bilateral debt, and debts to International Financial Institutions is called multilateral debt. All this debt comes from loans that the governments in the south received in the past and are still receiving today. The debt crisis over recent decades proves that this debt cannot be faced without diverting attention away from the needs of the population. Most of these loans date back to the 1960s and 1970s. In the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, at this time there was supposed to be a process of political independence, but the economical need to invest in infrastructures, industries or the army was still paid for with external resources. Moreover, the dollar accumulation due to the oil price rise spurred on the northern banks to give loans at low interest rates, and the overproduction of the USA and Europe s economies favored the granting of bilateral loans linked to the purchase of goods and services 1. We should also not forget the role of International Financial Institutions in creating this debt; the former president of the World Bank, Robert McNamara, promoted the usefulness of loans as a development tool that would drive the economies and industries in the debtor countries. Thus, the 2,700 million dollars transferred by the World Bank in 1968 became 12,000 million in , and most of this money went towards infrastructure construction, massive industrialization, and the so-called green revolution. As well as economical factors, we should also consider the geopolitical context of the Cold War. Many southern governments, democratic or not, received huge loans as long as they could swell the ranks of the capitalist block; and they were encouraged to apply neoliberal policies promoting exportation. Examples of this situation can be found in Chile with Pinochet, Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua, or Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire, who, in spite of the systematic deviation funds, stopped communism influence in Africa. In 1998 Zaire accumulated a debt of 13,000 million dollars, almost three times its GDP 3. One of the principal supports of the allies was the World Bank. The USSR and its allies also extended their support, usually financial, to those African countries who defended communism in the face of the capitalist attack. This is the case with Angola. Beyond the Cold War, we have to remember the loans received by South Africa during Apartheid, the purchase of Spanish military goods financed by FAD loans to the Somalian dictator Siad Barre, and the coronation of the Bokasa emperor in the Central African Republic, which cost one fifth of the GDP of the country 4. 1 Iolanda Fresnillo. Deuda externa en África. Reescribiendo la historia a través de la ilegitimidad Eric Toussaint, Arnaud Zacharie. Salir de la crisis. Deuda y ajuste Eric Toussaint, Banco Mundial. El golpe de estado permanente Ibid [1] 7

10 Debt For Water Some of these loans were granted for specific interests and used as a tool for political and economical domination. They do not benefit the society of these countries, and in many cases these loans have meant a drop in the general standard of living. These loans add up to an unlawful debt that actually makes economic conditions in these countries worse than before. This credit policy started in the 1980s with the so-called debt crisis. The debt crisis happened for several reasons: Firstly, there was the USA s decision to raise interest rates, multiplying the accumulated debt. The second reason was the drop in the prices of raw material that southern countries produce, decreasing their incomes and thus their capacity to pay. For these reasons, countries like Mexico, Argentina and Brazil went bankrupt in 1982, and eventually the other indebted countries could not keep up with their debt payment programs. In the following graphs we can see the rise of this debt for Sub- Saharan Africa and its evolution until ,00 External public debt evolution ( ) , , , , ,00 External public debt evolution ( ) , , , ,

11 ESFeres Estudis 6 The graphs show that in 2007 the debt for Sub-Saharan African countries was almost $200 billion. This amount seems quite low if compared with the total debt of impoverished countries ($3,300,000 billion), but in fact it is a huge burden on the economies of these countries. In 2004, on average every country in Sub-Saharan Africa spent $15 per capita on paying their debt, and only $5 per capita on health services and education 5. Moreover, this amount of money was actually paid: If we consider the period between 1980 and 2002, Sub-Saharan Africa has paid $250 billion, which is four times the debt it had in External debt cancellation policies In the debt crisis context, the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reappeared on the scene with a new kind of loan. We should remember that their theoretical purposes are, respectively, to finance developing countries 7 and stabilize the world s financial system. To achieve these goals, they start new programs to accomplish them: the first one is aimed at building infrastructures and modernizing the state (WB), and the second one is the sadly well-known Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), aimed at economically stabilizing the debtor countries (IMF). The main objective of these actions was to redress the balance of payments of the countries affected by the crisis so they could keep up with their debt repayments, i.e. generate or release resources to ensure that the international creditors would receive the money they were owed 8. SAPs is the application of economical policies based on the Washington Consensus, which focuses on opening markets and economical flexibility instead of solving the debt crisis. SAPs, however, has terrible consequences for the population, such as the reduction of the social services, privatization of common goods, and uncontrolled foreign investment. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recognized in 1999 that after 10 years of neoliberal reforms in developing countries, their payment difficulties, which has led to reconsidered guidelines, have not decreased, and their economies are more dependent than ever on external funding to reach a level of growth that addresses the serious problems of poverty and underdevelopment. 9 5 Ibid [1] 6 Eric Toussain. L Afrique, créancière ou débitrice? In fact, the World Bank was created to fund Europe s reconstruction, but when this was not necessary anymore, around 1968, its functions turned to funding development in southern countries. 8 Observatori del Deute en la Globalització, Fons Monetari Internacional: Historia (982 - actualitat: L'ajustament estructural, solució per a tot) UNCTAD, Development and Trading Report 1999, Toussaint, Zacharie, Salir de la crisis. Deuda y ajuste. 9

12 Debt For Water Over the years, creditor countries and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have discovered that SAPs has not worked, but they have not helped in any way to solve the liquidity problems of the southern economies, which are still drowning in debt. At the same time, throughout the 1990s an increasing number of organizations started to protest against SAPs, reporting the deep social and environmental impact it was having in the south. Moreover, several civil society groups appeared campaigning for debt cancellation, arguing that it was unaffordable, immoral, unfair, and illegitimate. In response to this social pressure, the IFIs and the main creditor governments designed a new strategy. The G7 summit in Lyon in 1996 presented the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, which was aimed at relieving the debt for those countries who were in a more critical situation. Before the HIPC initiative, the indebted countries not able to pay only had one option for debt reduction: going individually to the Paris Club 10 to renegotiate the terms of their loans in front of all their bilateral creditors. This renegotiation took place only when the IMF confirmed that the country required (and deserved) a debt restructuring. So a country with payment difficulties could not get a debt reduction without adapting its economic policy to IMF rules. Washington Consensus (1990) 1. Fiscal policy discipline 2. Tax reform 3. Competitive exchange rates 4. Trade liberalization 5. Privatization 6. Property rights 7. Deregulation 8. Public subsidies reductions 9. Market-determined interest rates 10.Direct foreign investment Source: 2002,Toussaint, Zacharie. Salir de la crisis. Deuda y ajuste. Initially, the HIPC initiative was presented as an innovation in the way that multilateral loans were included for first time. The debt problem was faced in a global way instead of working with individual negotiations, and it was announced that SAPs would be substituted for a participatory development policy. It is important to state, as will be seen later, that the apparition of this initiative did not mean the disappearance of the Paris Club at all. The negotiations with the Paris Club are the gateway for any country that wants to take part in the HIPC initiative, and it is the only way to reduce the debt for those who do not fit into this initiative. The initiative released in 1996 was widely criticized by civil society. It did not talk about the illegitimacy of the debt, and what it offered was considered too little and too late. Because of this criticism the initiative was complemented in 1999 by an increase in the debt cancellation volume that can reach 100% of the debt accumulated up until a predetermined date (different for each country) and some creditors such as the G7 are included. This is known as the improved HIPC initiative. Ten years after the release of the HIPC initiative, seeing that the debt problem was not solved, in 2005 the G8 presented the new MDRI (Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative), which ensured the total cancellation of the multilateral debt with the WB, the IMF, the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank for those countries who had applied the HIPC initiative successfully. The next table shows the main features of the HIPC initiative and MDRI, the countries that take part in them, and the steps that have to be followed to get the cancellation Group formed by 19 creditor countries (Western Europe, Canada, USA, Japan and Russia)-

13 ESFeres Estudis 6 Box 1. Strategies linked to the HIPC initiative PRGF-Poverty Reduction Growth Facility Presented in September 1999, the PRGF describes the main targets that lead to poverty reduction and economic growth in the countries considered suitable over a certain period of time, which varies between 3 and 5 years. Following this strategy allows the countries to request credits from the IMF in special conditions with an interest rate of 0.5%, and meeting other requirements specified in this document gives access to the HIPC debt reduction program. The eligibility criterion is equivalent to the one applied by the International Development Agency (IDA) of the WB in its program of concessionary loans: a GDP per capita lower than $1.095 in value in In august 2008, 78 countries were participating in the strategy. The targets and policies that outline the actions of the PRGF are based on the proposals for the PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) made by the government of each country, with ideally the participation of the civil society and the supervision of personnel assigned by the IMF and the WB. In theory, the PRGF only covers areas of competence of the IMF, such as macroeconomic and financial policy tracking, fiscal management, tax policies or fiscal transparency. PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. World Bank program. This paper describes the structural, macroeconomic and social policies to boost the growth of a country and reduce its poverty level. According to its definition, they are done following a participatory process with the governments involved, people from the civil society, and representatives of the WB and the IMF. They are written for a period of 3 years with annual revisions. 11

14 Debt For Water Box 2. HIPC initiative steps Decision point: A provisional reduction of the debt is applied during the years that the PRSP is running to alleviate the debt repayments. This reduction is decided according to the Paris Club framework. As long as the PRSP and the PRGF are successfully applied (according to the WB and the IMF premises) later reductions of the debt are also agreed. The condition necessary to arrive at the decision point is to have successfully implemented the PRFG program supervised by the IMF over a three-year period and to have written the PRSP. Completion point: The country receives the cancellation debt volume agreed at the decision point. It also enters into the MDRI, where all the debt owed to the WB up until 2003 and to the IMF and the African Development Bank up until 2004 is canceled. To arrive at the completion point the country must have written a final plan for poverty reduction approved by the WB and the IMF (the PRSP) and have implemented it successfully for at least one year. The country must also agree with the IMF receipts (as it has been doing until now to arrive at the decision point) and, for instance, guarantee a portion of the country s budget for debt cancellation. Completion point Benin Madagascar Sao Tome and Principe Bolivia Malawi Senegal Burkina Faso Mali Sierra Leone Cameroon Mauritania Tanzania Ethiopia Mozambique Uganda Ghana Nicaragua Zambia Guyana Niger Honduras Rwanda Decision point Afghanistan Congo Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Chad Gambia Guinea-Bissau Haiti Guinea Pre-decision point Central African Republic Nepal Comoros Somalia Ivory Coast Sudan Eritrea Togo Kyrgyzstan Liberia 12

15 ESFeres Estudis 6 Eligibility criteria Steps that countries follow Involved creditors Debt cancellation volume Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative Be an IDA-only and PRFG-only country 11. Have an unsustainable debt volume: higher than 150% of exports or 250% of state revenue. Pre-decision point: meet the specified conditions and have an unsustainable debt after a debt restructuring in the Paris Club. Decision point: meet the PRGF and write the PRSP. Completion point: PRSP implemented for one year. All the bilateral and multilateral creditors. Public and publicly guaranteed debt is reduced to the sustainable levels established by the initiative and agreed at the decision point. Paris Club members offer 90% or more of the net present value and multilateral creditors an additional relief. Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative Have reached the completion point of the HIPC initiative. Have reached the completion point of the HIPC initiative. International Monetary Fund, World Bank IDA, African Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. The current multilateral debt and acquired before December 2004 (IMF, AFB, IDB) o December 2003 (WB IDA) is canceled. The HIPC has a lot of limitations. First of all it is necessary to question the purpose of the initiative, which is to make debt sustainable. Thus, it does not intend to completely eliminate the debt from these impoverished countries, just reduce it to the point where they can keep paying. This is to ensure that the creditors receive their money in a sustainable way. The eligibility criteria to take part in this initiative are also questionable. First, the criterion based on the percentage of debt over exports results in cases like Kenya, a country that in 2007 spent more resources on servicing debt than on health and have no access to any debt relief because its debt is considered sustainable. Second, there are countries whose accumulated debt in 2000 (a year after the release of the improved initiative) was only 6% of the total debt of the southern countries, so the debt problem is not handled globally. If we take a look at the Sub-Saharan African countries that have arrived at the completion point of the initiative, we can see that, although the accumulated debt volume has decreased, the south-north cash 11 Countries that receive assistance in the form of concessions by the International Development Agency of the World Bank, criteria based on the GDP per capita ($1095 in value of 2007), lack of access to private funding, and a good implementation of policies. 13

16 Debt For Water Countries' current situation in the HIPC initiative Current situation in the HIPC initiative Pre-decision point Decision point Completion point Source: own calculations from World Bank data flow means that the debt service remains unchanged. And all this is without considering that the sustainability threshold is the same for all the countries regardless of the different budget that each country needs to guarantee minimum services to their population and generate autonomous policies. (Bear in mind that the peak seen in the debt service graph is due to Zambia, which made an important debt transfer in 1995.) Using the graph, we can also compare the Transfer Debt Service (TDS) and the Official Development Assistance (ODA). At first glance it appears that the TDS has decreased and the ODA increased. But the fact is that bilateral debt reductions have been accounted as Official Development Assistance, making up 14% of the ODA in , so they do not mean real and additional flow of resources to Sub- Saharan Africa. Social organizations like Action Aid report that only 39% of the ODA given in 2005 could be considered effective. In the same way, the ODA registered in Nigeria in 2006 is almost $10.5 billion, exactly the same amount of its canceled debt in Another point to highlight for the purposes of this study is the concept of conditionality. This relates to the guidelines that must be followed by the countries to receive assistance, loans or debt reduction. Theoretically, PRSPs were an improved version of the SASs because they were reports written by the debtor state with civil society participation. In practice, analysis done on 50 PRSPs, either from HIPC CONCORD, 2007 Hod the Applause! EU governments risk breaking aid promises.

17 ESFeres Estudis 6 Debt service of HIPC countries at the completion point $ $ $ $ $ External public debt evolution ( ) TDS AOD countries or not, shows that there still are free trade programs in 72% of the documents, and there is some form of privatization in 90%, in many cases in the water services sector, as we will see in the next chapter. In general, each PRSP analyzed contains six of the ten policies announced by the Washington Consensus and does not explicitly contradict the policies imposed by the SAPs, a curious fact if we consider the huge amount of criticism they received 13. So, the conditions not only fail to recognize the illegitimacy of the debt and the concept of justice to demand its abolition, they also impose a neoliberal policy framework for accessing its cancellation. If the debt service is maintained, if the same policies with their huge social impact are still applied, and if the origin of the debt, its illegitimacy and its total and unconditional cancellation is not questioned, is the HIPC initiative a worthwhile tool for dealing with the debt of impoverished countries and reducing their poverty levels? Has it been an evolution of SAPs, or has it provoked the privatization of public services and provided a gateway for foreign investments? 13 World Development Movement, One size for all. A study of IMF and World Bank Poverty Reduction Strategy.. 15

18 Debt For Water Es de necios confundir valor y precio. Antonio Machado 1.2 Commoditization and water access The latest reports published by the United Nations warn of the consequences the global water crisis may have on the world s poorest people. In 2006, 1.1 billion people did not have guaranteed minimum access to drinking water. The minimum is established at 50 liters per day, but in most cases access was less than 5 liters per day, which is 80 times less than what the average US consumer has access to. Two thirds of these 1.1 billion people survive on less than $2 per day. And they are not only the people with less water; they are also the people who pay more for it. People who live in settlements around the periphery of cities pay between 5 and 25 times more than the middle to upper-class families connected to the city s water grid 14. Directly related to the water problem is the fact that 2.6 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation. This lack of access has terrible consequences for health, the most significant one being the death of children due to diarrhea. It is calculated that 90% of deaths in children under 5 years old are caused by this disease meaning 4,900 deaths daily. One of the actions that the international community has taken to deal with this crisis is the progressive recognition of the human right to water. It is a second-generation right; this means rights that arose at the end of the 20th century. They are collective rights (not individual), and they are based on equality and impose a requirement on the state. When a state adheres to this commitment, it must respect, protect and guarantee that right. However, the consequences of private sector participation being introduced into the management of public services should be considered. In this case, there is a violation of the human right because the state does not guarantee it anymore, and at this point the right becomes a privilege. The poor conditions of certain individuals does not allow them access to water because they cannot afford it, but privileged people who can afford the service become consumers. Taking into account that the resource is finite, the right to water cannot be defined as access to an unlimited quantity. The World Health Organization refers to the right to water access as the availability of 50 liters per person per day in proper physiochemical conditions at a distance of no more than 250 meters. As the consumption of 30 liters per person per day only represents 1.2% of the total water used by the whole of humanity, it is obvious that the problem of access cannot be justified by a shortage of water; it is in fact a matter of political will 15. Some definitions refer to this minimum access as water-life, and it is directly linked to the concept of human rights. Then there is another category that could be classified as social water. Here we consider those activities related to water and judged to be of general interest, such as having a home connection, water services and sanitation, that should be a citizen s right. Finally, another category can be 14 Belinda U. Calagua The Right to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and the Human Rights-Based 16 approach to development. A WaterAid briefing paper. 15 Human Rights Institute, El dret humà a l accés a l aigua potable i al sanejament.